Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126636
N••••ldco-COI....do-.yo....g-.oia._.-No..... D. .o••-SOa.bD. .o..-N.b....k.-K.a...-Oklabo• •-'I'....- • • • • •ldco-COlo...do-.yo....g- Central Pipeline (A bove) Todd Gikling (2 7 ) leads Shannon Ivey (35) in BRA MX action. (Left) One of t he 125cc Int erm ediat e starts. (Above left) Danny Storbeck leads A lley Semar in Texas Se rie s 125cc Expert racing. Brovvn on form at Conroe Texas Series By Joe Milian CON R OE, TX, AP R. 10 The Texas Series continued its torrid pace today among the placid p ines of Conroe Motocross Park with the third of five races to determin e w h o ran ks as the state's best. As it has in years past, this series has attracted the strongest field of riders available and this fac t is vividly evidenced by the fierce 32 competition for one of the coveted positions -in the to p 10 of each class. Lee Hawthrone of Dallas took a strong step toward a top placing in the 125cc Novice class by ta king first overall in one of two divisions. Hawthorne, who just recen tly outgrew his old KX80, survived a second mota confrontation with first heat winner Billy Compton that took place in mid-air. As the two returned to earth, Hawthorne stayed on the course but Compton sent spectators and a large trash barr el flying as he made an unscheduled detour. Slightly shaken, he returned to the fray but finished well back. In th is same moto, series leader Ty Carter saw his hopes dashed as the result of a high-speed miscue over the tricky stair-step double-jump. In the resulting crash , Carter suffered a broken right collarbone and two ribs, which will sideline the fine young Kawasaki rider from Plano for at least two months, leaving brother - Rocky to carryon in his absence. Chad Parker had back-so-back firsts in the other l25cc Novice di vision with David Bloyed a come-frombehind fourth. The big news in the Minibike madness was that Billy Whitley finally lost a race. Stacy Marek upset Whitley in the Minibike Seniors wi th steady Eddie Vreeland third. Whitley exacted some small measure of revenge over Marek by leading him to the checkers in both the Mini Stock class as well as Minibike 105cc. Cedar Park Kawasaki representative Mi chael Merlo put in a strong showing in the Minibike Seniors as did Lance Baldridge in the Mini Stockers. Diminutive Mini Mini veterans Colin Edwards and " Crispy" Vreeland staged a spirited tussle in their class. but Jason Schultz and Charlie Winn took first and second respectively. Mark Mills captured his first overall victory of the series in the 250cc Novice competition after a struggle with Chris Black and Owen Ricker. With leader Ty Carter out for the remainder of the schedule, the scramble for points was thrown wide open with Mark Cochran, Danny Richardson, Terry Dutton and Chris Black all in good position to cop the title in the two remaining race meetings. John Fricke's DNFin the second moto might have put him out of contention Iorfirst placeIn the series, but he should still be able to crack the top five. For the third consecutive week Wyatt Seals finis hed second in the Open Intermediate class, unable to wrest the first p lace trophy from Bill Howe. Howe's effortless style is in direct contrast to that of the hard riding Seals, and their weekly duel is one of the series' highlights. "I said I would win last week , but Howe was just too strong today. I don' t have any excuses, I'm just gonna have to try harder. I'm surely not giving up, I still have a real good chance to win the whole thing," Seals stated at the trophy presentation. R usty Dovell made two second place finishes hold u p for top trophy in the 125cc Intermediate class despite some grumbling in certain circles as to whether the local ace should be contesting the money class. Kit Vick won the second moto, but a fall in the first left him with third overall. John Pollard and Jerry LeBlanc traded heat wins, but Pollard emerged atop the 250cc Intermediate class for the premier placing. Stuart Cotton wa s third in the class which was dominated by Suzukis. All ey Semar rode brilliantly in two Pro classes. but first place eluded him in both. Danny Storbeck staged one of th e more exciting d uels of the day in the first moto of the I25cc Experts with Storbeck taking the lead for good with two laps remaining. Carroll Richardson cooly shadowed the two leaders hoping for a miscalculation by one or both as they engaged in someclose-quaner handlebar rattling, but neither faltered and Rich ardso n took third. In the second moto Storbeck went wire to wire for the win with R ich a rdson interjecting himself between Storbeck and Semar for the duration of the heat which relegated Semar to third overall. Bryan Abernathy, under: the watchful eye of veteran tuner r Tommy Connors, encountered both mechanical an d physical difficulties z today and was forced to do a bit of unch a ra ct er istic back of the p ac k i maneuvering to garner a hard -ea rn ed fifth place. ; "I've been having some poor luck in the last couple o f months, and I also made some mistakes as a result of pressing too hard, but everything was working right today." Those were Ro ger Brown's sentiments after besting a determined Alley Sernar and consistently smooth R o n n ie H errmann in the 250cc Expert clash. Although Semar offered no excuses, his struggles with Storbeck have to affect his performance on the YZ250. "I had the lead both m o tos, bu t Roger justl took i t away from me. This is my first ride on a 250cc so I'm still getting used to the power characteristics. No alibis though, Roger rode harder today and he deserved to win." Nick Cordova had an easy time of it in the Open Expert affair as he cruised to back-to-back triumphs. "Scooter" Bates finished a distant second on both tours of the track with Russell Miksch pacing himself to third. Results MI NI MIN I: 1. Jason Schu ltz (Kaw); 2. Cha rlie Wi nn (Kaw ); 3. Colin Edwa rds (Kaw); 4 . J ack Ricks (Han ); 5. " Crispy" Vreeland (Kaw ). MINIBIKE JR: 1. Cody Marek (Kaw); 2. Chr is Gul laksen (Kaw); 3. Seen Cook (Yam); 4. J .R. laRose (Kaw); 5. J ack Ricks (Han). M INIBIKE SR: I .S.acyMar ek(Kaw); 2. Bill y W hit ley (Kaw); 3. Eddie Vreeland (Kaw); 4 . Jacon langford (Kaw); 5. Micheel Mer lo (Kaw) . MINI STK: 1. Bill y W hit ley (Kaw); 2. Stacy M arek (Kaw); 3. SCOll Chesser (Kawj; 4 . lance Bald ridge (Kawt 5. Shane LeBlanc (Kawl. MINIBIKE 105: 1. Bill y Whitley (Kawl; 2. Stacy M arek (Kawl; 3. Ef die Vreeland (Kawt 4 . Vincent Rizzo (Kawl; 5. Oave Shade (Kaw).